Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC) Short Interest Down 18.6% in March

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,430,000 shares, a drop of 18.6% from the February 28th total of 5,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Genuine Parts

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Genuine Parts by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 2,420 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Genuine Parts by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 18,715 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,185,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in Genuine Parts by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,743 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. increased its stake in Genuine Parts by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 3,494 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 4,630 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI upgraded Genuine Parts from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday. Northcoast Research downgraded Genuine Parts from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "sell" rating and set a $114.00 price target (down from $133.00) on shares of Genuine Parts in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on Genuine Parts in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $135.88.

Genuine Parts Trading Down 1.6 %

GPC stock traded down $1.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $116.80. 1,750,365 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,226,778. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05 and a beta of 0.93. Genuine Parts has a 52-week low of $112.74 and a 52-week high of $164.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.16 and a 200-day moving average of $123.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.16.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty retailer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.71 billion. Genuine Parts had a return on equity of 25.28% and a net margin of 3.85%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Genuine Parts will post 7.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. This is an increase from Genuine Parts's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Genuine Parts's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.68%.

Genuine Parts Company Profile

Genuine Parts Company distributes automotive replacement parts, and industrial parts and materials. It operates in two segments: Automotive Parts Group and Industrial Parts Group segments. The company distributes automotive replacement parts for hybrid and electric vehicles, trucks, SUVs, buses, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, farm vehicles, small engines, farm equipment, marine equipment, and heavy duty equipment; and equipment and parts used by repair shops, service stations, fleet operators, automobile and truck dealers, leasing companies, bus and truck lines, mass merchandisers, farms, and individuals.